Cogs in Time 2 (The Steamworks Series)

by SJ Davis

  He grinned at her, and she was torn between slapping him across the face and kissing him.

  “I did something to help us get to where we need to go, Mia.” His tone was light as he pulled away and leaned up to slip the crystals into their cylinders on the front of the carriage.

  She hated the way he dismissed her so easily, she had never been a servant in his house, but behaviors like that reminded her how he could truly be at times—an entitled rich boy with gifts.

  “Jase, what did you do?”

  He dropped the blue sapphire shard crystal into the right spot carelessly and it thunked down. She flinched at his lack of concern for the crystal. She put her palm on his shoulder and jerked him backwards.

  “You don’t get to kiss me like that yesterday and then treat me as if I don’t exist today, Jase. That’s not fair!” She felt her nostrils flare as she did her best to whisper words she wanted to yell.

  He smiled and put his hands on either side of her head. “Oh yes, right.” He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers and she startled at the tiny sparks she felt. He dropped her face and tossed the red and purple shards into place. She snarled and sat back on the bench seat, crossing her arms over her chest. Pouting wasn’t attractive on a lady, so it was a good thing she was the serving class.

  Jase clapped his hands and turned to her, a fire in his eyes.

  “You do realize that, not only could you have possibly sabotaged the invention, but you also are in a much more smug and careless mood than usual this morning?” She sounded grumpy and she didn’t care. When he hadn’t shown on time, she’d thought he was ashamed of kissing her out of some excited passion for the time machine.

  “Don’t worry, Mia. I’m here, the crystals are here and we are going to get this carriage to do a lot more than simply turn on for once.” He wiggled his brows at her and she growled and frowned.

  “What did you do, Jase?” She put her hand over the blue crystal shard and grasped it in her palm. “We aren’t testing anything out until you tell me what you’ve done to a device we are about to turn on.” Her eyes bore into his and the stare down felt as if it continued for minutes.

  His voice was low and barely audible when he finally responded, “I supercharged them.”

  She raised a brow and let got of the crystal, suddenly not terribly comfortable touching it. “What does that even mean?”

  “I added souls,” his voice held no remorse, just a simple statement.

  His words swirled around in her head. They’d never dared to trap more than one soul in a crystal before. There was no telling what multiple souls would do, what damage could be done.

  “How many extra, Jase.” She hissed at him and jumped off the carriage, afraid to even be inside of it now. “And who went with you?”

  His shoulders dropped, and a lump formed in her stomach. “One each, Mia. I promise I wouldn’t have done it if I thought it would endanger anyone. Just because no one has ever tried, it doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. Isn’t that the point in all of this? To see what our gifts can do?” He stepped off the carriage and took her hands in his. “Trust me, Mia. You have no idea how badly I need this carriage to do what it’s supposed to.”

  She couldn’t deny him anything. Even as children, if he had asked her for something, she did it. She had thought it was her infatuation with him, but it had grown into so much more as they grew up.

  She sighed and smiled. “I’m always trusting you, and it normally ends with my arse being tanned for your mischief.”

  He laughed and kissed her cheek.

  “But you didn’t answer who did this with you, Jase.”

  “It’s not important, Mia,” his voice had a hard edge to it. The same one she’d been hearing most of her life when he was trying to cover up something insolent that he had done.

  “You will be honest with me, Jase. If for no other reason than I am your partner in this project. We won’t even calculate in all the times I saved your arse when we were young, or the fact that you kissed me yesterday.”

  His smirk was back. “And today, Mia. Don’t forget that, please.”

  She sighed and let go of her hand and jumped back into the carriage.

  “I went alone, Mia.” She opened her mouth to tell him what an ignorant fool he was, but he raised his hand and kept talking. “I couldn’t bring anyone with me. You know it’s illegal to interact with souls without a signed permit from the Crown. I didn’t have that, and I wasn’t willing to wait. Today was the day we had to have it running, or be assigned different partners for the trials. I didn’t want to lose you, Mia. I did it to make sure this metal junk moves through time.”

  She hadn’t realized she was holding her breath while he spoke, until she let it out. He’d surprised her when he had kissed her. She’d assumed it was nothing more than excitement, but his words, it was entirely possible all those moments spent together meant as much to him as they did to her.

  Blowing out a deep breath, she looked around the church; everyone was working tirelessly. All seven teams had to make their device work today, or the Stormling powers would be shifted to see if there was a better combination. She’d never understood the infatuation from the Crown with time traveling, but she belonged to them as a citizen and she would do as she was told.

  “You’re going to regret every second of this. Every bloody second, Mia,” she muttered to herself as took the seat next to Jase.

  He let out a whoop as she sat next to him and reached forward to get closer to the crystals. “I promise they aren’t dangerous. I’ve held them and aside from falling asleep in Mark’s arms, nothing bad happened when I did it.”

  She coughed, trying to hold back her laughter at his comment, and nodded her head. “I have always trusted you, Jase. Why I have no idea, but I always have.” She leaned back in the seat. Failure would mean a new partner and possibly never seeing Jase again. Failure wasn’t an option. “We need to go somewhere distinct. To see if it worked. “

  He grinned and his eyes sparkled like normal at her. “Then, dear friend, I should say the future ought to be our first try! I can only imagine how our world has changed. Look at the past thirty years!”

  He was as giddy as a young boy receiving a gift and she laughed. “All right.” She turned towards the center of the church and cupped her hands, “Jase and I are beginning our trials. Please secure yourselves.”

  The other teams dropped what they were doing and quickly moved towards the front entrance of the church. They had protocol for trials, and being near the door was essential. If something went wrong, getting outside quickly might be the only hope of safety.

  She took a deep breath and released it slowly before smiling at Jase. “All right Soul Raiser, get out of my way.”

  Jase slid across the upholstered bench to give her space just as she began to rub her hands together. Power over lightning always manifested from the mind first, but needed a physical direction, or it would simply spark all over the body. Her hands rubbed furiously together, turning warm as the blood circulated, and she began to visualize a bolt of lightning forming between her palms. Her eyes never left the green shard, and she heard the familiar buzz of power. In her hands sat a small, fizzing ball of contained lightning. The white sphere sparked and would have stung anyone else it touched. Raising her hand, she aimed her fingertips at the green crystal, and shut her eyes tight as she released the blast directly at the crystal and the soul within it.

  Jase watched as the bolt struck the crystal. His whole body flinched when a scream ripped through the small carriage interior. The soul was not enjoying the lightning show, and real terror gripped him for the first time. They had no idea what this would do to a soul, and the way the crystal shard was shaking in the hole it sat in, made his body quake. If it shattered, if the soul was released, there was no telling what would do.

  Thrown sideways, his face crashed into the seat when Mia continued the process. He was so focused on the green crystal, he didn’t see the bolt
that slammed into the power generator on the machine. The carriage rocked uncontrollably on the cement floor. Motorized vehicles were available in spades for those that could afford them, and his parents’ had never done this.

  Jase pushed himself off the seat and leaned forward on shaky legs. His arms wrapped around Mia’s waist and he pulled her backwards into him. Their eyes locked momentarily, and he saw his own fear mirrored in her eyes. There was no way to stop what they had begun, no off switch except to break the crystal, and that wasn’t an option.

  He tucked Mia’s face against his chest and closed his eyes. Either the carriage was going to travel through time, or it was likely to blow up with them inside of it.

  Chapter Four

  His breathing pounded in his ears. It took several seconds before he realized the carriage was no longer bucking around like a frightened horse was haltered to it. The sound that filled his ears was almost as awful as the shrieking soul in the crystal. Unlike any sound he had ever heard, there was no explaining it properly. It sounded like the waves crashing angrily onto the shore, but louder.

  Mia wasn’t moving. Her head was still beneath his hands and tucked against his chest. He could feel her heart beating rapidly, even though they weren’t directly touching near her chest. His lips curved into a smile, despite not knowing where or when they were.

  “Mia, if you open your eyes on the count of three, I’ll join you.”

  She pulled her face away from his chest just enough to make her words legible. “I don’t want to agree to that, Jase. You’re the one with the stupid adventurous streak. You open your eyes, and if we aren’t dead, then I’ll open mine.”

  He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Fine. Throw me to certain death.” He slowly forced his right eye open. “Holy mother of God.” He let out a low whistle and opened his left eye. “Mia, you need to open your eyes. Right now.”

  He had no idea if she listened. His eyes were completely transfixed on the scene in front of him. Jase stepped out of the carriage, but didn’t move too far from it. He couldn’t move, he was so taken aback by what he saw. Buildings stretched yards high, to the sky it appeared. They were so harsh looking with windows larger than most homes.

  How had they built them so high? Perhaps Telekinetic Stormlings?

  People raced about on the street in the strangest clothing he had ever seen. Women wore tight pants, and skirts so short he would have sworn he saw the arse of the female who’d raced passed the carriage. The men appeared to be as Jase was though.

  The carriages were outstanding. Stunning really. Gone were the horses and awful humped back shapes. They seemed to still be made of metal, but that was where the similarity ended. Colors blazed by and the wheels seemed to be made of a black rubber. But the real distraction was where they were, the cars were in the sky. They hovered, about six yards off the ground and moved about with people walking below them. There were so many different shapes and sizes his brain could hardly process them as they whizzed by. Their speed! They moved at a pace that shamed even the fastest racing horse.

  “Oh my goodness,” Mia’s voice held all the awe his would have if he’d spoken. Her hand slipped into his, and without warning, he screamed into the street.

  “Yes! Oh, Mia, it worked! It bloody well worked! We did it!” He turned and grabbed her by the waist and lifted her into the air, bouncing her body with glee.

  She laughed and threw her arms up as he spun them carefully on the street. “Oh my God, Jase.”

  As he looked up at her, he swore she looked like a goddess with the sunlight streaming over her shoulders, or maybe it was the euphoria of the moment. He had absolutely no clue when they were, but they had made it to a future of sorts. There was undeniable proof.

  He was still twirling Mia when she put her palms on his shoulders. Slowly, he let her body drop back to the ground and when he felt her weight shift as her feet touched the ground he tipped her head back and kissed her again. His mouth moved slowly as he savored the taste of her and victory.

  She smiled against his lips and he pulled back. “What are you thinking right this moment, Mia?”

  “I’m thinking that my partner is a scary, brilliant genius for figuring out what to do with the crystals.”

  “I kiss you, and you think that?” He feigned hurt, and she laughed and pulled away from him to look around again.

  “Oh behave, Jase. This is absolutely amazing.” She twirled slowly, taking in everything around them.

  “And I thought most women found my kisses to be absolutely amazing,” he muttered under his breath, but couldn’t really blame her. There would be no telling the others they were here. They would have to find a piece of the future to bring back with them.

  “Jase, this is so beautiful. Look at everything. It’s all so amazing. I wonder what the church interior looks like, if we ruined it at all.”

  “Mia, dear, I hardly think anyone will care once they realize we traveled through time. We must find something to prove it.” He started to walk down the street towards what looked like a store marked 7-11.

  He felt Mia tugging on his hand and he stopped. “Jase, our money. It likely won’t work here. We have no idea if Britain is still in charge, or where we are for that matter.”

  He flashed his typical grin at her and winked. “Then we will just have to steal something.”

  She groaned, and he laughed and began walking to the shop again. The door in and of itself was a marvel. It was solid glass, and he barely refrained from putting his face up to it to see the goods they pandered to people within. Shelves were stacked quite high with things in brightly wrapped packages. He’d never seen food wrapped before, and he hoped it was food within; his stomach was a little hungry.

  “Jase, push on the door before people stare at us more than they already are due to our clothing.”

  He wasn’t thrilled with following rules and orders and hesitated even though he knew they needed to go in sooner or later. Mia pushed past him and when the door swung open he was hit with an arctic chill, horribly bright lighting and a strange clanging sound from a man behind a counter.

  They nodded to the man as they walked in. Jase’s eyes took in everything. The strange whirring devices on the counters, the wrapped things that were indeed food and the strange devices called “chargers” that sat on a display.

  But how do we know what to take?

  His eyes searched the shelves even as he heard Mia saying something to him. A strange figurine, a mountain with heads carved into, sat near the man behind the counter and it read “2014”. He poked Mia in the side and pointed at it.

  “What do you think the odds are that the year is 2014?”

  “I think we need to find some way to install a device in the machine that can simply tell us when we are.”

  “Leave it to you to go pick apart perfection. Well should we take that? Maybe with our disappearance, and that item, we can prove it worked!” his voice rose slightly in his excitement, and she gave him the glare he found so sexy on her and shushed him.

  “Yes, just do it quickly. I do not want to be caught up in this anymore than when you do it back at home, Jase.” She smacked his arm lightly and walked out of the store.

  Her foot tapped impatiently on the ground. There were so many things she wanted to be doing at the moment: exploring, talking to people, touching things. Nothing that included standing around as Jase used his thieving skills again.

  “You know you need that trinket as extra proof as to what you’ve done,” she scolded herself.

  What you’ve done. There would be nothing like this feeling ever again. It was stronger than the joy she’d felt when Jase had kissed her. Stronger than when she’d learned she someone special thanks to the storm. She was standing in the future, seeing things no one she knew would ever see—things she should never have laid on eyes.

  The thought filled her with almost as much sorrow as joy. She refused to let anything bring the experience down. The street was as noisy as anyt
hing she’d ever heard. Even the ironworkers back from her time did not make such a ruckus.

  She let her eyes fully roam around the street. The buildings alone were enough to stop her breath. She’d seen plenty of large castles, both in London and the ones built in the Americas for the dukes and their ladies, but these seemed to stretch to the heavens. She had a feeling that if a storm broke out in the skies, the buildings would be damaged. She watched as people seemed to walk into the windows, yet they rotated or slid out of the way and the people walked harmlessly into the buildings.

  She felt someone bump into her, and heard a muttered, “Freak,” before the young man walked off. She watched him as he went and she began to understand. They didn’t fit in there. Though no one could see their transport, it looked not a bit like the metal squares that floated off the ground. Their clothing was so different she didn’t know what to think. Her entire body was properly covered, and the women that passed her showed more skin then she bore when she washed. A flush hit her cheeks when she thought about wearing an outfit such as the tight skirts and bare midriff bodices. Perhaps Jase would like her in it though.

  She suddenly heard him, shouting at her, and she realized he had flung the door open to the tiny shop he had been in. The tiny decorative object was in his hands, along with bagged items. His eyes were sparkling, and he reached out with the hand not holding anything and tugged on her sleeve. She stumbled as he unexpectedly pulled her away from the wall.

  “Run, Mia! Run!” He didn't say anything else, and he didn’t wait for her. Not that he ever did after getting them into a scrap of trouble.

  A second later the door flew open again, just behind her, and she heard another voice shouting, “Thief!” She shook her head and tried her best not to smile. Jase had gotten them into trouble once more. She hitched up her skirt in her hands and took off after Jase. Fear pounded in her veins as she ran under the strange carriages. She couldn’t stop visualizing them falling from whatever kept them afloat and crushing her.